Isabelle H
- Research Program Mentor
Industry expert at University of Washington
Expertise
Neuroscience, biology, data science, kinematics
Bio
I have always been interested in better understanding behavior and neurodegenerative disease, which has led me to pursue research which combines those areas with my love of technology. I studied neuroscience and biochemistry at the University of Washington to gain a foundation in science from the systems level down to the molecular level. As a student, I often found that a good mentor made a world of difference in furthering my interest and improving the quality of learning of any subject. With my students, I strive to inspire them to ask questions and teach them how to approach answers.Project ideas
Movements during exercise
With increasing accessibility of machine learning through the optimization of hardware and software, we can quickly and fairly easily train neural networks to track motions of different body parts. With this project, we can approach biological questions using tools in computer science. Goals of this project could be to learn some neuroanatomy, how biological structure and function are related, gain exposure to concepts in deep learning, and apply these concepts in the real world with video analysis. It could end with a webpage or short paper showcasing what the student has learning, and have some examples of the final analyzed videos and conclusions about the kinematics of a sport.
Sensorimotor pathways and scientific research
In this project, we will cover some of the existing literature on the major sensorimotor pathways in the human body, and explore some disease processes and what they reveal about the brain and nervous system. Goals of this project include: scientific questioning and reasoning, learning neuroscience, and learning to read scientific papers.
Molecular and cellular neuroscience and BCIs/neuroprosthetics
In this project, we begin with an overview of some basic neuroscience, then transition to some simple home experiments that demonstrate those ideas in the real world. We then review some recent work with brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) and neuroprosthetics. The end goal of this project is to have a good understanding of the nervous system at the molecular and cellular level, understand some classic experiments that led to those discoveries (study design, techniques, results, and interpretation), apply some basic techniques (like extracellular electrical recordings), and have an understanding of how to read and interpret findings in scientific articles.